ARTERIO-VENOUS ANASTOMOSES

Abstract
The author reviews both old and new literature on the distribution and morphology of arterio-venous anastomoses and recent experimental work on the physiology of these structures. Their caliber varies reflexly in response to thermal and mechanical stimulation, they occur normally in those regions which are most often subjected to such stimuli, and the number of them present in such a region in any individual case seems to be correlated with the number of stimuli it has received.